Joan Goes To The Moonlight Howl
by Arctic Omega
Summary: Two years after the death of her mate, the Southern pack's leader, Joan, finally accepts that it's time to get back into the swing of things and just enjoy herself.
1. Joan Goes To The Moonlight Howl, Part 1

"**Joan Goes To The Moonlight Howl", Part One**

This story takes place about three months after "Lucky's Story".

Lucky finished brushing Joan's tail with a pine cone she held in her mouth. She spat the cone out and stared at her mother in amazement as she said "Wow, Mom! I didn't know you could look so beautiful!"

Joan, still sitting, quickly turned and looked back sharply at Lucky over her shoulder, ears up, eyebrows raised. Then her gaze softened and her ears and eyebrows went down. "Thank you, dear. I'll take that as the compliment I know it was."

Joan actually _did_ look beautiful, her light gray head-fur moving in unison with her gently swaying brownish-gray body as she got up and took a turn around the den, her head and tail high and proud. She tried to keep up the courage she needed to help her go through with going to the Howl.

Then she sat down heavily and sighed. "I haven't been to a Moonlight Howl since your father..." Her voice tapered off. She hung her head sadly, her emerald-green eyes dark with sorrow.

"Well, it's about time you _went_ then, Mom." "Clumsy" said, looking directly at Joan, his brownish-green eyes serious, his ears up. "I know Dad wouldn't mind. He'd want you to be happy."

He hung his head down, narrowed his eyes and shook his head from side to side sadly, then said, head still down "Every Moonlight Howl since I can remember, you've gone to the ledge just outside this den, sat down and howled alone, crying most of the time. It's time you went to Howling Rock. With a howling partner. To be with your pack for the Howl in more than just spirit."

"I know, dear. It's just that..." Joan's voice trailed off again. Her head still hung sadly. Tears were starting to well up in her green eyes.

"Look, Mom!" Lucky grinned, her amber eyes bright, her ears laid back. "I didn't put all this work into making you look good, just to have you sit here and feel sorry for yourself. Go! Just go and have fun. You know that's what our Moonlight Howls are about. Fun."

She looked at her mom and cocked her head to the side, still grinning, and added "You know..." Her eyebrows raised and her eyes widened at the last word "'Fun'?".

Joan sniffled slightly, looked at Lucky, and laughed, "Ha-ha!" Her eyes were sparkling through her just-begun tears. She brought up a paw and wiped them away. "Yes, Lucky. I know what fun is. Just because I'm an Alpha doesn't mean I don't know how and when to have fun. You don't think I'm that uptight, do you?" She frowned and narrowed her eyes, suddenly serious again.

"Ummm..." Lucky sat and shrugged her shoulders, looking down at her paws, shifting her weight from paw to paw, slightly uncomfortable. "Well..."

"You know you can be honest with me, sweetheart... I guess you just have." Joan chuckled "Hmmm, hmmm. Look at me, all nervous, like a yearling. Well I'd better go. I can't keep John waiting much longer or some other she-wolf will be howling with him. The old rascal."

Joan needn't have worried. Just before she reached the entrance to the den to leave, who should strut up but John. He was all "spiffed-up" and looking good, and he knew it.

John was the eldest Alpha, at six years old. He was built strongly, with broad shoulders, narrow hips and a strong back. His fur was a brownish-tan color, with white from his chin to his belly. He had cream-colored markings, one above each of his blue eyes, just like eyebrows. His head-fur was a shade lighter than his coat, going down to his shoulders in the back. His grin could charm the hardest heart.

"Hey, hey, Joanie! You are lookin' _hot_ tonight, girl!" John grinned, his ears laid back, tail wagging high, blue eyes dancing. Joan giggled like a yearling, with a smile to rival the brightness of the full Moon outside, her earlier sadness temporarily forgotten. They briefly touched noses in greeting, then he asked "You ready to go have some fun?"

"I have it on good authority that that's what our Moonlight Howls are about." Joan said, giving "Clumsy" and Lucky a smile and a wink. They each were giving her the "run along" sign - a flicking motion in the air with a front paw.

"Oh, by th' way, Joanie, I have somethin' fer ya." He sat and scratched, pulling a purple mountain daisy out of the thick fur on his neck with his right hind foot, transferring it to his mouth. "Here ya go," he said as he carefully placed it in the fur just under Joan's right ear. "Can't have ya bein' without a flower fer yer big night out."

Joan smiled shyly, slightly lowering her eyes, and said "Thank you, John. It's my favorite."

"Yeah, I know." John winked and grinned, "You're welcome."

Then they turned to leave, silently walking side by side, both looking at each other and smiling.

"Have a great time, you two!" Lucky smiled and called out as they left. "We'll see you there a little later on."

As soon as they had left the den, Joan saw the full Moon hanging huge and bright in the clear eastern sky in front of them, just above the surrounding mountains. "Oh!" she gasped, laying her ears back, "It's so _beautiful_ tonight!" She stopped, and John stopped beside her. She stood and stared, taking a deep breath of the crisp early fall evening air. The sky was the color of late twilight, an ever-deepening shade of dark blue. The stars were just starting to come out in force. She fought the urge to throw her head back and just start howling right now.

"It sure is," John agreed, seemingly entranced by the scene himself. Then he looked at her, her gray fur shining in the moonlight, her emerald eyes sparkling. He laid his ears back, his gaze melting, looking at her as if seeing her for the first time. "But not as beautiful as you."

Joan suddenly turned to look at him sharply, ears up, green eyes wide with surprise. "Why, you old wolf!" Then she softened her gaze, and lowered her ears again. She looked down at her paws, slightly embarrassed. "Thank you, though."

"'Old'?" John puffed out his chest, acting hurt. "Psssshhhh! Who ya callin' 'old', little girl? Yer only as old as ya feel, ya know! And right now, with a pretty girl by m' side, I'm feelin' like a yearlin' again!" He gave a "play-bow" in front of her- front end low, back end high, ears back, tail high and wagging. He wore an ear-to-ear grin.

"Oh, you! Hmmmph!" Joan said, and stuck her nose into the air, ears back, pretending to be put-out by his flirtations. She carefully hid a small smile. She walked past him. As she did, she lightly brushed the tip of her light gray tail across his muzzle.

He jumped back up and trotted towards her, still grinning, tail wagging. "I'd follow you anywhere, now," he said wolfishly.

She looked back over her shoulder, raising an eyebrow. "Then follow me to Howling Rock," she said in a low voice. She started walking, her hips and tail swaying. He fell in line behind her.


	2. Joan Goes To The Moonlight Howl, Part 2

"**Joan Goes To The Moonlight Howl", Part Two**

When Joan and John reached their pack's Howling Rock, they saw that they were early. Only one other couple was there - Shawn and Marcia, two of the Betas (they were mates). They hadn't taken their place on Howling Rock yet.

Shawn was the lead Beta, in charge of making sure everyone below his rank followed the orders of Joan, their pack-leader. He was essentially her lieutenant. He was fairly slender, but still muscular enough to handle his job without a challenge. His fur was the yellow-orange color of flame, with head-fur a shade darker going down the sides of his neck and down his shoulders. His eyes were a pale green, a vivid contrast to his fur. He had black lines above his eyes for eyebrows.

Marcia was the lead female Beta, and was support for her mate, if he needed it. She was deceptively small and slender, but she had surprising strength in her lithe body. She had nearly white light-gray fur. Her head-fur was white, going down past her shoulders in back. Her eyes were a deep, dark blue, almost looking black, sometimes. She had dark gray eyebrow markings on her light gray face.

Other packs might have different rules, but for this pack, the Moonlight Howl was all about fun. It was about enjoying the howl. The only set rules were that mate howled with mate, and pack members got ledges on Howling Rock according to rank, starting with the pack-leader and their howling partner at the top of the Rock. If you found the one whose howl matched and accented yours perfectly, then great. If not, no one thought any less of you if you showed up at each Moonlight Howl with a different howling partner. Or even no partner. Choices were pretty limited, even in a pack with fifteen members. That was why, at least in this pack, Omegas were allowed to howl with Betas, and even Alphas. Who knew who would end up howling well together? An Omega could even ask an Alpha to the howl. That didn't mean that the Alpha had to accept, though. Outside of the Moonlight Howl, the usual rules applied, though. Some order of discipline had to be maintained in day-to-day life to keep the pack running smoothly.

Since Joan was pack-leader, and John the eldest Alpha, the top spot on the Rock was reserved for them tonight.

"So..." John paused, frowning slightly with nervousness, ears down, shifting from front paw to front paw. He was hoping that he and Joan would howl well together. He wanted this night to be perfect for her. "Should we go on up and wait fer the others t' arrive?"

"Sure," Joan called over her shoulder, as she leapt up to the next ledge "I'll race you to the top!"

"Heh-heh,"John chuckled, "Oh, you're on!" as he began leaping up, too, and caught up with Joan.

Up they leapt, rock by rock, ledge by ledge, side by side. John put on a burst of speed at the last second and reached the top barely before Joan.

"Well, looks like you won." Joan smiled, then looked down at her paws, ears down, suddenly shy. "The winner gets a prize." She reached up and gave him a nuzzle behind his right ear.

"Oh-ho! Heh-heh," he grinned and chuckled, his face showing his surprise and delight. "Feelin' a little frisky tonight, are we?" He nuzzled Joan's left ear, so as not to take the chance of knocking her flower out of place.

Then they just sat close beside each other, each enjoying the other's company as they watched the other wolves arrive.

As soon as "Clumsy" arrived with his sister Lucky, he was shyly approached by Betty, one of the Omega triplets. Betty was somewhat short and stocky, but by no means fat, with fur the golden color of honey. Her head-fur was a light blonde, almost white, with straight bangs that hung over her forehead. She had bright crystal-blue eyes. She was normally shy and quiet, but she had worked up the nerve to ask "Clumsy", since she knew he probably wouldn't have worked up the nerve to ask her. She'd noticed the way that he looked at her when he thought she wasn't paying attention, and had always liked him, despite his innate clumsiness and rough looks. She knew that wasn't his fault, and saw beyond it to see the good-natured, kind heart inside of him.

"Ummm..." she began nervously, ducking her head and laying her ears back, eyes downcast, tail down. Her next words came out in a rush as she glanced up at him, "Swift, w-would you be my howling partner for tonight? If... if you don't already have someone else in mind, that is..." She smiled shyly and looked back down, waiting for his answer.

At first, "Clumsy" didn't know how to react. He was shocked, to be sure. No one had ever shown any interest in him as anything but the running joke of the pack before now. A lot of thoughts ran through his mind as he processed what had just happened, the first of which was "She called me by my _real_ name!" He stood there, with his mouth open, his shock showing plainly on his face. "I..I..I..." he stammered, then a slow smile spread across his face. He straightened up, bringing his head, ears and tail up. His greenish-brown eyes shone with an inner light he'd never felt before. Was this... _respect_ he'd just been given? He could grow to _like_ this. He could to grow to like this _very_ much. Especially since it came from a girl he liked. A girl he'd never hoped for anything but a kindly pity from.

Betty could see in his face what he was feeling. "Well?" she asked, cocking her head at him, but still a bit shy, ears still back, her gaze a little more direct.

"Clumsy" finally found the words he wanted to say. He laid his ears back and looked her in the eyes proudly. "Betty, it would be my honor to be your howling-partner tonight."

"Oh!" Her face lit up and she shyly brought her right front paw up to her mouth and giggled "Hee-hee!" suddenly grinning from ear to ear. She then gave "Clumsy" a quick nuzzle on the side of his face. "Well, then, I guess we know where our howling place will be. . . at the base of the Rock, like we Omegas always get. At least we'll be together, though."

"Clumsy" had a sudden thought, his eyes brightening even more. "I'll be right back, Betty." He turned and dashed off. Strangely, he didn't even so much as stumble. He returned a few minutes later with a bright yellow daisy in his mouth.

"Oh, Swift!" Betty gasped, her delight showing plainly on her face as she laid her ears back "It's beautiful!"

"Here," he said as he carefully put it just under her left ear, "for you. A pretty girl like you can't be without a pretty flower at the Moonlight Howl." That earned him a more serious nuzzle on the side of his face. "Thank you," she whispered in his ear. He grinned widely and returned the nuzzle, "You're welcome," he whispered in her ear, happier than he'd ever been before in his life.

Lucky, meanwhile, had found Jake, a Beta a year older than her, in the gathering group and approached him cautiously, respectful of his rank above her.

Jake was the lowest-ranking of the five Betas, relegated to support on hunts, but he was ready to work his way up when it was time. He was fairly long and lean, but strong. He had long legs and a muscular, yet narrow chest, ideal for cutting through the deep snow their climate brought in the Winter. His fur was a patchy combination of gray and black, almost like camouflage, with gray being predominant. His head-fur was a glossy jet black, going down to his shoulders and on each side of his neck to his collar-bone. His face was light gray with dark gray eyebrow lines above his golden eyes. He was serious most of the time, but still had a bright, ready smile, especially for the eligible young ladies of the pack.

"Uhhh... H-hi, Jake," Lucky began nervously, head, ears, and slowly-wagging tail down, glancing at him but not keeping eye contact, lest he become offended.

"Lucky, it's okay." He reached out with his right front paw, turned it pad up and brought it gently under Lucky's chin and raised it so that her eyes would meet his. "You can look me in the eyes. You don't think I'm _that_ mean, do you?" Jake smiled at her, laying his ears back as she looked up at him, her eyes wide with amazement. He put his paw back down. His gold eyes gleamed in the moonlight. "I know you like me. I like you too, and I'd love for you to be my howling-partner for tonight."

Lucky was astounded. Jake had actually accepted her as his howling-partner for tonight! With his being a Beta, they were guaranteed a ledge on the Rock. The lowest ledge, since he was the lowest Beta, but a ledge, none-the-less. No below-the-ledges, on-the-ground howling alone for Lucky tonight! And that smile...that smile was for _her_ tonight!

Then Jake sat for a moment, grinning and saying "Somehow, I knew you'd approach me tonight. I have something for you. He reached back into his neck fur with his right front paw and brought out a white daisy and transferred it to his mouth.

Lucky was completely taken by surprise. How did he know that white daisies were her favorite flower? She had a feeling that her mom had told him.

Jake stepped forward with the daisy in his mouth. "Here you go," he said, and placed it in the fur below her left ear.

"Oh, Jake! Thank you." Lucky looked down at her paws, suddenly shy again.

"You're welcome." Jake grinned. "Let's go on up to our ledge, shall we?"

"Yeah, let's." Lucky beamed as she looked up at him, her amber eyes glowing in the moonlight.

Together, they hopped up to their ledge on the Rock.

Soon, every available rock ledge was taken by a couple. Only Bathsheba, one of the Omega triplets, was left to howl alone tonight, but that didn't matter. Only the unity of the pack mattered. Besides, everyone was welcome to howl. And, if nothing else, there was always the next Moonlight Howl to look forward to. The Howling-Partner line-up would switch around among the singles, like it always did, unless someone found their perfect partner, then they would probably stay partners for each Howl until one or the other tired of the arrangement.

"Clumsy" and Betty sat at the base of the Rock. Bathsheba sat down by herself about ten feet away, to respect their space as a couple. She was happy for her sister, since she knew how Betty felt about "Clumsy". She herself liked him well enough, but just not in "that way".

Lucky and Jake sat on their ledge just above "Clumsy", Betty, and Bathsheba. They talked and laughed, obviously enjoying each other's company.

The howl started at the base of the Rock, with "Clumsy" and Betty, as well as Bathsheba down there, then ledge by ledge, the others joined in, all their voices mingling and overlapping in wild harmony, until everyone was howling except for John and Joan. They stood on their top platform.

After a short pause, John closed his eyes, threw back his head, and began howling - a wonderfully smooth bass. Two seconds later, Joan stepped close and joined in with her clear, sharp tenor. Their voices blended and wove together, each accenting the other and both accenting the rest of the pack's howls.

The entire pack howled and swayed together, enjoying the unity, and each member savoring their own personal contribution to their wild symphony.

After about an hour, the howling gradually tapered off, as one by one and two by two, the wolves started leaving the Rock. They were headed to the "After-Howl Party" behind Howling Rock.

John and Joan were the last to stop howling. They sat, gazing at each other, both happy for each other's company. Joan hadn't realized just how lonely she had been.

"Well, Joanie, that was a _fantastic_ howl!" John was grinning again.

"Yeah, John," Joan sighed, "_fantastic!_" She reached up with her right paw and started ruffling the fur behind his left ear.

"Mmm..." he crooned, "Ya keep that up, yer gonna give this 'old wolf' some ideas. I'll give ya ten minutes or so t' stop that..." He sighed, his grin getting goofier and goofier by the second.

She chuckled at his expression, then stopped ruffling his ear-fur, suddenly serious. "I'm sorry, John. I didn't mean to... I'm just not really ready for anything more, yet. I hope you understand." She ducked her gray head apologetically, her ears down. She peered at him sadly with head down, eyes up.

It was his turn to be serious. "Of course, I do. Mark was m' brother, ya know. I miss 'im, too." John sighed, looking at Joan as he thought to himself "And he made me promise when he married ya that I'd watch out for ya if anything happened to 'im. I know he'd want ya ta be happy. Whenever yer ready, Joanie-girl, I'll be here for ya." Then his expression brightened. "Hey, we don't wanna be late fer the party, do we? Let's get goin!"

"Hmmm, hmmm," Joan chuckled, happy once again. "Race ya down!" She started down.

"Once again, you're on, Joanie!" John started bounding down the rock ledges close behind her, catching up at the last second.

They both reached the bottom at the exact same time.

"Darn!" Joan said, sitting down and hanging her head in seeming disappointment, "No winner means no prize." A smile played across her lips as she looked at him from the corners of her eyes.

"Oh, I've already gotten my prize, Joanie. A howl with the hottest girl in the pack!" John winked at her, grinning, tail high and wagging.

"Hmmm, hmmm. You old wolf!" Her turn to wink and grin.

He sighed and hung his head and tail, acting hurt. "Again with the 'old'." He rolled his blue eyes, shaking his head from side to side. "A guy could get a complex, ya know?" His head was still down as he brought his eyes up to look at her. The "sad puppy" look. But the sparkle in his eyes gave him away, as if Joan didn't already know he was putting on a show.

"I hear that parties are good if you're feeling down." Joan said, still grinning. In a low voice, she added "Let's go." She got up and trotted off.

John was instantly up and following. "Hey, wait fer me!" he called out, "I think ya need someone ta protect ya while yer there." He grinned, walked up to her left side, leaned towards her left ear, and added conspiratorially in a low voice "I hear tell there's gonna be a bunch o' wolves there."

"Ha!" Joan barked, her eyes shining, "Then you should feel _right_ at home!" She trotted off around towards the back of Howling Rock, with John following closely, still grinning.


	3. The After-Howl Party

**The After-Howl Party**

The "After-Howl Party", for this pack, at least, is partly a pack-gathering, partly a talent-show. Pack-members have a venue here to try to entertain the rest: there's a rock platform that acts as a "stage". When you're up on the stage, you can tell by how many wolves are encouraging you as to how well-liked your performance is. If there's enough encouragement, you finish it. If not, you just hop down off the stage and think up another thing to do for the next "After-Howl Party" and let the next "contestant/s" try out.

"Clumsy" was first up. He stumbled up onto the "stage", almost falling onto it. Everyone who wasn't already looking looked- his tripping and stumbling usually _did_ catch their attention, since they wanted both to be entertained by his antics, and to stay out of his way, lest they be caught up in his clumsiness. He sat down somewhat hard, facing the pack with his tail completely hidden under his backside. He sat there for a moment, looking dazed, then nodding and grinning good-naturedly at the chuckles from a few members of the pack. Then he lifted his right front paw and craned his neck as he looked back to his right and behind him. "Whaaa...? Hey, where'd my tail go?!" He put down his paw, raised his head, and said in a sing-song voice "Tail, oh, tail, where did you go? You were just here a minute ago! I miss you, tail!" As he finished, he shifted position and his tail popped out from under him. His tail wagged. There were some laughs from the audience. He looked back again "Oh, _there_ you are! Don't _do_ that to me!" He sat up onto his hind legs, grabbed his tail with his front legs and hugged it with a big, goofy grin on his face. "I love you, tail!" he crooned, "Oh, yes, I do!" Everyone burst out laughing and howling their approval. Some even sat up on their hind legs and applauded with their front paws. "Clumsy" let his tail go and put his front paws back down. He then stood up, grinning, ears back and tail wagging, saying "Thank you! Thank you!" As he went to hop down off the stage, he tripped and tumbled, almost into some of the pack-members below. There were some laughs, but then, "Hey, watch it!" came a growl. "Sorry! Sorry!" "Clumsy" apologized, head, ears, and tail down, cringing as he scrambled to his feet, "Just me being me, you know." He slunk away, making his way towards where Betty was waiting.

Lucky was next up on the stage. "That was pretty good, 'Clumsy'," she said in a stage-whisper as she passed him, "You just need to work on your exit." She winked and grinned at him.

No one seemed to notice that "Clumsy" was no longer slinking by the time he reached Betty's side and sat with her to watch Lucky. Around her, he wasn't "Clumsy" anymore, he was Swift. Betty leaned against Swift, laying her head on his shoulder. He put his left front leg over her shoulders. They both sighed contentedly.

Lucky got up on the stage and sat down. She grinned, nodding her head, acknowledging everyone there. There was some polite applause and a few soft howls. The pack knew they were in for a treat: Lucky was well-loved for her jokes. She was actually the most-respected of the Omegas. "Well..." she started, with a suddenly-serious look on her face, "I'd like to tell you some jokes, but you'd just laugh at me!" She hung her head, giving everyone a wistful look. The entire pack burst out laughing.

"Well," she thought to herself as the pack continued laughing, just starting to settle back down, "I'll have to remember that one."

After about 5 minutes of nearly non-stop jokes, she said "You've been a great audience! True, you're my _only_ audience, but hey! Time for someone else to have a turn up here. I love you all!" She sat up on her hind legs and brought her front paws to her mouth, then spread her front legs out to each side of her, "blowing them a kiss". Everyone howled and applauded as she hopped down from the stage.

Lucky headed over towards where Jake was sitting. "Clumsy" who had been off to the side with Betty, got up and hugged Lucky, grinning. "You were _great_, Lucky! I wish _I_ could tell jokes like that."

"Well," she replied, returning the hug, grinning, and giving him a nuzzle on the side of his face, "you're good at what comes naturally to you, I'm good at what comes naturally to me. I don't think I could ever master _your_ style."

Next up were the Omega triplets: Betty, Bertha, and Bathsheba. Betty was the shortest of the three, with honey-gold fur and blonde head-fur that was almost white with bangs to just above her crystal-blue eyes. Bertha was next tallest, with gray-brown fur and light-brown head-fur in the same style as Betty, but with deep chocolate-brown eyes. Bathsheba was the tallest of the three, with rather plain-looking gray fur and head-fur just a shade lighter in the same style as her sisters with light green eyes.

They hopped up onto the stage, one by one. They then stood facing the pack, acknowledging them. Then they sat as one and Betty began howling, followed a second later by Bertha, then another second later, Bathsheeba joined in. They howled in perfect harmony, each voice blending and melding with the others. The pack sat transfixed. This was simply amazing! It was rare, even among siblings from the same litter, for voices to go together so perfectly. The triplets had most certainly never shown this talent before, and yet, here they were. For five minutes, their perfect song continued. At the end of that time, each sister stopped howling in the opposite order that they had begun. As the last voice faded, the pack was silent for a few moments, hoping that the performance hadn't ended. Alas, it had. When they realized it was over, they rose to their feet, howling and barking their approval. "Clumsy" gave some of the loudest howls and barks. The Omega triplets were the hit of the night. They stood thanking their audience for the next three minutes, as the howling and barking gradually faded.

When the last bark was given, they hopped down from the stage and were immediately surrounded by the rest of the pack, everyone wanting to talk to the girls at once. Joan and John were in front, being the ranking Alphas. Joan had her ears down and was smiling, but looked directly at each of the triplets in turn, starting with Bathsheeba. "That was absolutely _amazing,_ girls! Why've you been hiding this talent from the rest of us?" She tilted her head to the side and frowned at them slightly, narrowing her green eyes a little, ears barely up, still with a pleasant smile. "How long have you known you could do this?"

Bathsheba looked to her sisters, asking without words for permission to speak for them. Permission was granted, again without words. "Well," Bathsheba began softly, her gray head and light green eyes slightly lowered, her ears back, somewhat awed to be speaking directly to the pack-leader, "we didn't intentionally hide it from anyone. We didn't really know about it until we thought to give it a try a few days ago. We've always enjoyed each others' voices, and decided to try howling together and see what would happen. We were as amazed as the rest of you seem to be at the result. We decided we needed to share this with the rest of the pack. It could come in handy to get pack members' attention when it's needed, like for helping to break up fights." She raised her eyes, head still lowered, to look at Joan in a non-threatening way.

Joan smiled at Bathsheba, her frown gone, and her emerald eyes clear and bright. "I don't doubt that, Bathsheba. I know _I'd_ stop fighting if I heard that wonderful sound. I'm sure the rest of us would, too. But I think there'd be other uses for your talent, as well, like a signal for the pack to gather, if we had you use a certain tone that everyone would know."

Bathsheba's face brightened at the prospect. All three sisters smiled widely. She said "We never thought of it as a signal."

"That's part of the reason why I'm the pack-leader. I'm trained to think of these sorts of things when others don't." Joan smiled at Bathsheba again, then included Betty and Bertha in her calm, happy gaze. "You girls have a wonderful talent. I'll see that it doesn't go to waste."

John stood staring at the Omega triplets for a few moments, his face unreadable. They started wondering if he was upset with them for not sharing their talent before now. Then he spoke, more quietly than anyone had ever heard him speak before, "I dunno know what t' say girls, except that ya struck me speechless. There's _nothin' _I've ever run across in my entire _life_ that's done that b'fore! That was _fantastic!_"

As the triplets moved on around the circle of wolves around them, accepting compliments and greetings, it seemed that everyone was awestruck by the girls' talent.

Finally, after about five minutes, they had made their way around the entire pack.

No one else volunteered to get up on the stage. How could anyone follow an act like that?

Everyone broke up into their usual groups and started catching each other up on what had happened while various groups of the pack had been away hunting and foraging.

After everyone was caught up on happenings, the call went out from John: "All right, ever'one! Time t' eat! Ya know th' drill."

A caribou kill had been made earlier that day, and had been brought there and laid out on the grass in portions so that there was meat enough for everyone. The Alphas had first choice, followed by the Betas, then finally, the Omegas were allowed to choose. Lucky allowed the Omega triplets to go ahead of her this once, because she respected their talent, even though she out-ranked them in the Omega group. "Clumsy" was dead-last, as always, but Lucky purposely chose the lesser of the two pieces of meat left when her turn came, so that he could have a little more than he usually got. He'd seen her make her choice, and gladly accepted what she'd left him, catching her eye and giving her a delighted grin just before he picked the meat up to head over to Betty to have dinner with her. "Thanks, sis'." he mouthed.

She paused just long enough in eating alongside Jake to grin and mouth back "You're welcome, bro'. Enjoy!"


End file.
